The 30th Annual Howard E. Deppe Senior All-Star Baseball Classic was played Saturday at Limeport Stadium, with the Pink team, comprised primarily of players from the EPC downing the Blue team of all-stars, primarily from the Colonial League, 5-1. Dieruff's Shane Seibert got the win, while Northampton's Noah Durnin suffered the loss.

The game raises funds for the American Cancer Society while giving high school senior players the opportunity to get together for one, final game.

"It was fun and it was nice meeting all of the players from the different teams and it was a good game," said Palmerton's Nick Sanders, who went 1-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice in the game.

While Sanders would have liked for his team to come out on top, he enjoyed the opportunity to get to play with guys he's been playing against during his high school career.

"It's definitely interesting," said Sanders, who will attend Mansfield University. "Instead of working against them, you can work with them this time."

The Pink team got on the board in the bottom of the first without a hit. Justin Albert (Nazareth) drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Michael Mittl of Liberty walked and then stole second after Albert had advanced on a passed ball. Another passed ball allowed Albert to score from third.

The Pink team used singles from Carlos Solis (Allen) and Isaac Samuel (Bethlehem Catholic) along with a passed ball and wild pitch to pick up their second run of the game in the third.

Stroudsburg's James Cramer singled with one out in the bottom of the fifth, in his only at-bat of the game. A walk and a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with two out for Whitehall's David Gonzalez. Another wild pitch allowed Albert to move to second and Gonzalez came through with a two-run single, giving the Pink team a commanding 4-0 lead. Mittl singled and stole his second base in the sixth, later scoring on a fly ball to cap the scoring for the Pink team.

The Blue team got on the board in the top of the eighth, when Southern Lehigh's Preston Amato led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Amato scored on a groundball to first off the bat of David Flick (Pen Argyl).

Amato was 1-for-2 with a walk, scoring the only run of the game for the Blue team, which was good enough to garner him his team's Most Valuable Player Award. Gonzalez picked up the award for the Pink team on the strength of his two-run single.

Prior to the game, Emmaus' Joel Bartoni won the Home Run Derby, with Whitehall's Nick Delp finishing second.

The game gave Palmerton's Sanders a special memory that goes along with another key moment from his senior season. When asked to look back on his high school career, Sanders had a fairly recent memory that will remain with him.

"This year," said Sanders quickly. "We beat Bangor and we weren't even supposed to be close to them, but we wound up beating them. I think that's what stands out the most."